All Of This Has Happened Before

“All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.” - Pythia
According to a July 8, 2013 story in the Los Angeles Times, we’re starting to rack up our credit cards again – in a big way.
In fact, the story indicates that credit cards and other revolving credit alone rose at a 9.3% annual rate in May.
I know we’ve got a short societal memory but I thought it would take awhile longer for America to forget one of the worst economic meltdowns of all time.
Bear Stearns, hobbled by subprime mortgages, went under in March 2008.
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2008.
The unemployment rate went from 5.0% in January 2008 to 9.9% in December 2009. As of June 2013, we’re still at 7.6%.
America went through a prolonged period of belt-tightening, and only now are some folks getting back to the workforce. And if you’re one of the people who have been without work for awhile, I get the desire to get yourself a little treat.
It’s been a long time since you went on a vacation, bought some new clothes, or went out for a meal.
But before you dig into the wallet for that piece of plastic, consider this – if you wait just a month or two, you might have some cash to spend.
You can buy that pair of shoes once and pay for it once. No interest, finance charges, or bills in the mail.
You can grab a meal out with your family, put some bills on the table at the end and walk out rather than paying for those burgers for the next year.
This way, when the next downturn happens (and it will), you’ll be less likely to suffocate on your debts. And won’t that be the best gift of all?
Image credit:  mutantlog
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